1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an improvement in a snow-removing machine comprising a machine body having a snow-removing section mounted at a front portion thereof, a steering handlebar mounted at a rear portion thereof and a power unit mounted at an intermediate portion thereof. A drive section has driven wheels driven by a wheel driving shaft of the power unit and can be turned relative to the machine body about the wheel driving shaft. An expandable and contractible regulating mechanism is coupled between the machine body and the drive section and is capable of regulating the level of the snow-removing section relative to the drive section. The expandable and contractible regulating mechanism is comprised of a cylinder connected to one of the machine body and the drive section, a piston which is slidably received in the cylinder and which divides the inside of the cylinder into a first chamber and a second chamber, a piston rod which is coupled to the piston, passes through the second chamber and is connected to the other of the machine body and the drive section, a communication passage permitting the communication between the first and second chambers, and an on-off valve capable of opening and closing the communication passage as desired.
2 Description of the Prior Art
A snow-removing machine is already known, for example, as disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Registration Publication No. 61-23059.
In such known snow-removing machine, oil is filled in first and second chambers in an expandable and contractible regulating mechanism to flow through a communication passage. To regulate the level of the snow-removing section, an on-off valve is opened, thereby permitting the oil to flow between the first and second chambers to expand or contract the expandable and contractible regulating mechanism. After the regulation of the level of the snow-removing section, the on-off valve is closed to inhibit the flow of oil, thereby hydraulically locking the expandable and contractible regulating mechanism.
However, when the expandable and contractible regulating mechanism is locked hydraulically, the machine body and the drive section are brought into rigidly connected states, whereby a vertical vibration applied to the drive section is transmitted directly to the steering handlebar grasped by an operator during the removal of snow. This causes fatigue of the operator to be hastened.